Chapter 194: Niya's Delay

"No."

Xia Duo interrupted Dien. He knew what Dien wanted to say; it was nothing more than that most people could be accepted in. Dien very much hoped the organization could grow, but what Xia Duo was considering was—

"Whether there is agreement takes time to test; it cannot be done rashly. I feel you don't need to place too much importance on growing the organization. As time passes, who is on our path and who is not will be clear at a glance."

Xia Duo had to ensure the organization would not spiral out of control, and that it remained within the Mage Tower's tolerance. If possible, he even hoped to bring the Lord in, even if it meant letting the Lord become the leader of the organization.

After all, what Xia Duo needed was just a more open environment, not some so-called leadership position.

But he truly could not imagine a scene where the Mage Tower opened all magical knowledge for free, even if it were just theoretical knowledge.

Although Dien did not understand the reason for Xia Duo doing this, he believed that Xia Duo must have a reason for doing so, and he only needed to follow suit.

"I understand!"

Skipping the topic of the organization, Xia Duo asked about Dien's progress in becoming an Official Mage. For Dien, becoming an Official Mage was not difficult; it could even be said to be extremely simple.

The foundation was already sufficient; he only needed Xia Duo to teach him a 1st Circle Spell. If fast, it could even be done within a few days.

But Dien was thinking about creating a spell himself to become an Official Mage. This was precisely Xia Duo's exemplary influence, and Aideliqi and the others had similar ideas.

Regarding this, Xia Duo expressed encouragement and answered some difficult questions Dien encountered during the process of creating spells.

Soon, the written exam within the Arcane Garden ended, and what followed was the spellcasting competition. The format of the competition was similar to a Spell Duel, and this required the use of a Spell Laboratory.

Xia Duo followed the crowd into a Spell Laboratory on the Library Layer. The Spell Laboratory, originally prepared for single-person use, was suddenly squeezed with twenty or thirty people.

It was slightly crowded.

Moreover, this round was obviously much more time-consuming than the first round. With so many people having to duel in pairs, the number of wins obtained, added to the previous written exam scores, would determine the ranking.

Watching the two Apprentices competing in the arena, Xia Duo was also considering the Arcane Competition tomorrow night. He had already done everything he could, and he was very much looking forward to trading blows with the outside Mages.

Jianaer had been in poor condition recently because his younger brother died. In terms of spellcasting proficiency, Xia Duo had already completely surpassed him.

As for the other two New Mages of the Tower of Time, as far as Xia Duo knew, their mentors almost never let them idle for a single moment.

Of course, it was not to prepare for the Arcane Competition, but to make them do chores. It was pitiful that they had to do chores during their Apprentice period, and still had to do chores after becoming Official Mages.

Xia Duo had never regarded those two as opponents; his goal was the outside Mages.

Before long, the competition in the Spell Laboratory also reached its end. Aideliqi announced everyone's scores and simultaneously made the previous paper scrolls public.

Everyone interacted quite a lot usually, and their exchanges were relatively open, so everyone had a rough idea of each other's level. No dark horse emerged in this competition.

The top three were well-deserved. After Xia Duo awarded them, he offered some words of encouragement before announcing that this competition had concluded successfully.

Afterwards, everyone dispersed.

Returning to his residence on the sixth floor, Xia Duo organized the items he would need tomorrow, such as the ceremonial dress and decorations for the celebration, the Scrolls, Dagger, and notes he would carry, and so on.

The next morning, Xia Duo got up, read books, studied, and researched as usual.

It was not until near noon, when the Tower Spirit reminded him that the celebration was about to begin, that Xia Duo changed into his ceremonial dress and headed to the Central Plaza.

Like the Award Ceremony at the end of last year, this celebration for Aiboke's advancement was also held beneath the Great Arcane Statue in the Central Plaza.

By the time Xia Duo arrived, the southern half of the plaza was already full of people. Unlike the atmosphere of mixed sorrow and joy last time, this celebration was purely festive.

Being in the midst of it, Xia Duo also felt his mood lighten quite a bit.

However, unlike last time, Xia Duo was also a spectator this time, though his position was relatively forward, and he was separated from the commoners by a layer of Apprentices and a row of soldiers.

Among the Official Mages, Xia Duo arrived quite early; he came over almost without any delay after the Tower Spirit's reminder, and after him, members of the Tower of Time arrived one after another.

From the order of their arrival, Xia Duo also guessed their Spellcasting Levels. Those who arrived first should be the ones with lower levels, but that was not absolute; that Kaili he had met still hadn't arrived even now.

"Xia Duo."

"Jianaer."

After exchanging greetings, Jianaer stood beside Xia Duo. Seeing that Jianaer still had a trace of sadness on his face, Xia Duo did not strike up a casual conversation with him.

Soon, most of the Mages Xia Duo knew had already arrived, such as He Sai, Xiaolei, Huosite, Aidelian, Leonard, and Chawila, as well as many whose names he might have heard but whose faces he might not be able to match.

There were about twenty or thirty people!

This was the first time Xia Duo had seen so many Mages gathered together. Almost all the Mages of the Tower of Time were here, right? He couldn't help but think, if these people were all wiped out by an enemy in one go, that would be interesting.

Soon, Mages wearing ceremonial dresses different from those of the Tower of Time appeared. Xia Duo even saw the two Mages, one tall and one short, whom he had received.

Now the outside guests had begun to enter, but there were still a few Mages of the Tower of Time whom Xia Duo knew who hadn't arrived. He didn't care about the others, but it was a bit strange that his mentor Niya hadn't appeared.

Leonard and Aidelian, who were also students of the Lord, had already arrived, and the one male and one female Mage standing with them, if nothing went wrong, were the Lord's other two students—Bo Te and Saixili.

The Lord had five students, and now only Niya was missing!

Regarding strength, on the side of the outside guests, Xia Duo had already seen more than one High Mage; regarding status, Xia Duo saw Anbulier from the territory's Guang Hui Shen Dian, and there was also an Arcane Servant of the Magic Goddess among the outsiders.

Just as Xia Duo was guessing whether Niya had been delayed by something, Kaili came sprinting over, and at a glance, he saw Xia Duo and Jianaer here.

He came directly to Xia Duo's side, panting heavily.

"Kaili, why did you only arrive now?" Xia Duo asked.

After finally steadying his breath, Kaili began to complain in a low voice, "It's all my mentor's fault, insisting on making me do some Synergistic Resonance experiment; it exhausted me to death."

However, after complaining a few times, Kaili revealed a cunning smile again, "Hehe, Pa Luo Si couldn't come. His mentor's experiment went out of control and caused Pa Luo Si to vomit blood. He's probably lying in the Temple right now!"

Pa Luo Si's miserable encounter made even Jianaer unable to help but ask, "Is he alright now?"

Back then, Jianaer, Kaili, and Pa Luo Si had become Official Mages at almost the same time and were acquaintances before. After the blow of his own younger brother's death, Jianaer seemed to have become much more fragile.

"I don't know, he should be fine!" Kaili said uncertainly, then turned his head to look around before saying, "His mentor isn't here, maybe he's also at the Temple."

Xia Duo was speechless, but he also began to worry about Niya. Emotionally, Niya was a good mentor, and Xia Duo did not want anything to happen to her; rationally, if something happened to Niya, it would inevitably affect him.

Just like that, time passed bit by bit, but Niya never showed up.

It was past noon, and suddenly, bursts of beautiful music sounded in the air, like Elves whispering softly, or like flowing water passing over stones, tinkling and ringing.

Furthermore, the source of this music had no direction; it seemed as if the sound was coming from all directions, dense like the tide and like the air, yet it did not in the slightest affect one's normal perception.

For a moment, the plaza fell silent.